R v Wade Terry King

The Court of Appeal will refuse a renewed application for an extension of time and leave to appeal against conviction where the proposed grounds disclose no arguable error. A decision to continue a criminal trial in the defendant’s absence is a judicial discretion. Where the judge applies the appropriate principles and the defendant deliberately fails to attend after being warned of the trial date and consequences, the decision is not arguably wrong. A challenge to messaging evidence as a confession lacks merit where medical evidence does not arguably show that the defendant was unable to provide a reliable confession.

Following a jury trial at the Crown Court at Portsmouth, the applicant was convicted of rape contrary to section 1(1) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and later sentenced to seven years’ detention. The trial judge permitted the trial to continue in the applicant’s absence after he failed to attend despite having been told the new trial date and the consequences of non-attendance. The proposed grounds challenged that decision and the refusal to exclude messaging evidence said to amount to admissions. A single judge refused an extension of time and leave to appeal. The renewed application concerned whether either proposed ground was arguable.

The renewed application was refused. The court refused both an extension of time and leave to appeal against conviction.

1. The trial judge had exercised a judicial discretion concerning continuation of the trial in the applicant’s absence. The applicant had attended the first hearing and had been directly informed by the judge of the new trial date and the consequences of failing to attend. On the relisted date, his legal representatives were present, but he was absent and could not be contacted. The judge considered the prosecution application, heard representations on the applicant’s behalf, gave careful reasons and appropriately directed the jury. The single judge correctly concluded that the relevant principles had been applied and that the applicant’s deliberate absence provided no arguable basis for appeal.
2. The challenge to the messaging evidence was also without merit. The medical evidence did not arguably establish that the applicant was unable to provide a reliable confession. His attendance at trial would have enabled him to offer an explanation for the messages, but he deliberately absented himself.
3. Having considered the renewed application for itself, the court agreed with the single judge. The proposed grounds were entirely without merit and the trial judge’s rulings on both issues were impeccable.

The application to extend time and for leave to appeal against conviction was accordingly refused.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) — The renewed application for an extension of time and leave to appeal against conviction was refused: [2025] EWCA Crim 423.
• Crown Court at Portsmouth — The applicant was convicted by a jury on 15 November 2023 and sentenced to seven years’ detention on 15 February 2024.